The present invention relates generally to fan assemblies and more particularly to tiltable oscillating fan assemblies.
One type of tiltable oscillating fan assembly is disclosed in colony-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,732,539 to Shao Shin-Chin, which issued Mar. 22, 1988. The fan assembly disclosed therein includes a neck joint which is mounted for tilting movement back and forth on the top of an upwardly projecting potion of a base. A fan unit is mounted on top of the neck joint for oscillating movement on the neck joint about a vertical axis. A flexible clip element which serves to selectively limit the extent of the tilting movement of the neck joint is attached to the bottom of the neck joint. The clip element has a hooked shaped tip which will strike the front wall of the upwardly projecting portion of the base when the neck joint is tilted down about 20 degrees from the horizontal axis and as a result prevents further downward tilting movement. However, by manually flexing the clip element upward away from the front wall, the neck joint can be tilted further downward so as to place the fan in a collapsed or folded position.
Although the above-described fan assembly is generally satisfactory in circulating air, its fan head cannot be tired to a completely horizontal position. The present inventor regards this as a shortcoming since it is often desirable to position a fan head horizontally (like a ceiling fan), particularly when one wishes to circulate the air of an entire room.
Another type of tiltable oscillating fan assembly is exemplified by the POWER FAN.RTM. floor fan (Model No. HAOH-199) marketed by the present assignee, Holmes Products Corp. (Milford, Mass.). The aforementioned fan comprises a bracket-type stand having a pair of upwardly extending members. An annularly-shaped collar is mounted between the upwardly extending members and is adapted for tilting movement between a horizontal position and a vertical position. An oscillating fan unit is disposed within the collar, the fan unit being adapted to oscillate relative to the collar and being coupled to the collar for tilting movement.